These two guys are just two damn nice and respectful, and we can’t seem to get the fireworks started.

Actually, though, the headline simply originated from an interview with Schafer that was posted today at Mad Squabbles. In it, the 29-year-old admits he likes a lot of “wussy stuff.”

Schafer, who (like Salmon) is from Wisconsin, talked about his win over Rob MacDonald (UFC 62), his loss to The Ultimate Fighter 3 light heavyweight winner Michael Bisping (UFC 66) and his upcoming fight with Salmon at UFC 71 on May 26. He also talked about a variety of interests and hobbies that wouldn’t always be associated with your average mixed-martial artists.

Given that you gave up a career in medicine for MMA, how is your relationship with your parents?

My parents are cool; they just want me to be happy. Of course being a parent of a fighter must be rough (seeing your son get hit in the head for a living cannot be easy), but they are supportive. Hopefully I can use my brains when I retire to become a doctor or male model.

Are you still working as a laboratory technologist?

I quit 3 weeks before my Bisping fight. It was a good job, but I needed more time to train. But I just had knee surgery in Feb, so I am dead broke. So I need some sponsors, help me lord!

You told MKE Online you enjoyed the arts, theater and painting. Is that really true?

Dude, for some reason I like a lot of wussy stuff. I don?t like heavy metal or hard rap; I listen to James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett. I really like art. My mom thought I was going to be an artist when I grew up. I like having intelligent debates on politics, religion, society, etc. I am just weird, and I could care less if other people think it is not cool.

For those of you who haven’t read much about Schafer or heard any of his interviews, he’s one of the UFC’s true characters. He’s the type of guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously.

But he has learned to take his job more seriously.

Although Schafer fought from 1998 to 2002, he took more than three years off from fighting from 2002 to 2005.

Most people don’t know your first pro-fight was in 1998. Yet you took almost a 3 year layoff after losing to Dustin Denes in 2002. What happened?

I took that fight on 3 days notice because I needed some spring break money. I lost and I really was upset with myself and vowed to never take a fight again if my heart was not into it. I took some time off and really worked on my skills. I stayed busy with grappling tournaments. In hindsight I am glad I did, I think a lot of guys are to busy training for fights to really dedicate themselves to working on their technique.

I’ll be doing a MMAjunkie.com interview with Schafer once we get closer to the fight, but for now, go check out this one.

By virtue of our sponsorship, we’ll obviously cover this fight with plenty of details in the next couple months. And while most MMAjunkie.com readers have become Salmon fans, it’s no reason for us not to like Schafer.

Even if he had unflattering things to say about Sean:

Open question: one of the best ways to make a name for yourself as a fighter is to make controversial statements. Say something here to create a buzz about your fight with Salmon.

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